Department for Transport

Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme - Financial Assistance to the Aviation Industry

Robert Courts: I am tabling this statement for the benefit of hon. Members to bring to their attention spend under the Industrial Development Act 1982 (“the Act”).On 24 November the Government announced the introduction of the Airport and Ground Operators Support Scheme (the Scheme) with the intention of supporting airports and ground handlers who have experienced the impact of COVID-19 on their business whilst maintaining high levels of fixed costs during the 2020/21 financial year. The aim was to open the Scheme in January and ensure grant payments were made to eligible businesses by the end of the financial year. Grant payments would be made using powers in sections 7 and 8 of the Act.Section 8(8) of the Act states that financial assistance for any one project shall not exceed £30m, except so far as such excess has been authorised by a resolution of the House of Commons. The need to act and ensure that support was provided promptly meant that the Government were previously unable to seek such authorisation from the House of Commons.Section 8(9) of the Act provides that the Secretary of State shall lay a statement concerning the financial assistance before each House of Parliament if they are satisfied that the payment or undertaking to pay financial assistance in excess of £30m was urgently needed and it would have been impracticable to obtain the approval of the Commons House of Parliament by way of a resolution.The need to provide urgent support to airports and ground handlers who play a vital role in the infrastructure of the country made it impracticable to seek authorisation by way of a resolution, for payments under the scheme in excess of £30m and I am therefore tabling this statement. The details of the spend on the Scheme, which opened for applications at the end of January, are set out below: Total of Scheme Grants Commercial AirportsGround Handling Operators£86,925,171.00 £65,075,462.00£21,849,709 The Government remains committed to supporting the sector and has recently announced that the Scheme will be renewed for the first six months of the financial year 2021/22. Consent for the use of powers in sections 7 and 8 of the Act for the renewed Scheme will be sought separately.

Department for International Trade

United Kingdom-India Free Trade Agreement Consultation Launch

Elizabeth Truss: This morning, the Department for International Trade launched a public consultation on a future Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India. This consultation will make sure that the public, business, civil society and trade unions across our nation, can have their say on Government’s approach to a future trade agreement with India. As with all consultations, my Department and I will continue to engage Parliament and the Devolved Administrations throughout the scoping of an FTA with India. Today’s announcement is consistent with the Government’s approach of consulting widely ahead of launching trade negotiations, to ensure our position is tailored to the UK economy and supports our national interest. India, as the world’s largest democracy, enjoys many shared values with the United Kingdom, as well as strong cultural links. It is expected to become the second biggest economy in the world by the mid-2030s, presenting significant trade and investment opportunities as a key partner for us in the increasingly important Indo-Pacific region. On 4 May 2021, the Prime Minister launched the United Kingdom-India Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) with Prime Minister Modi of India as part of the ‘2030 Roadmap’ between the two countries, which includes a declaration of our shared intent to begin work towards a comprehensive FTA. A future comprehensive deal could provide opportunities for businesses across the United Kingdom in key sectors of mutual interest such as healthcare, technology and services. It would boost an already strong economic relationship too; bilateral trade more than doubled between 2007 and 2019, standing at around £23bn at the end of this period, and the bilateral investment relationship currently supports nearly half a million jobs across both countries. As in all negotiations, we remain committed to upholding our high environmental, labour, product and food safety, and animal welfare standards in any trade agreement with India, as well as protecting the National Health Service (NHS). The online consultation opens today on GOV.UK and will be live for 14 weeks. It will be accompanied by an information note that sets out the definition and scope of an FTA, along with detailed analytical information on the United Kingdom’s current trade and investment relationship with India. Government aims to complete scoping before the end of this year, with the results informing our approach to full FTA negotiations.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Launch of Research Collaboration Advice Team

Amanda Solloway: The Integrated Review sets an ambition for the UK to be a science and technology superpower by 2030. International research collaboration will be central to achieving this objective, and our research sector needs to be both open and secure.  The Government works with research institutions, funding bodies and industry to ensure national security risks are understood and responded to appropriately. I and the Secretary of State for BEIS, as well as our officials, have discussed these issues at all levels within the research community. We expect institutions and individuals to make sure international collaboration is safe, sustainable and secure.  I am therefore pleased to announce that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will this year launch the Research Collaboration Advice Team (RCAT). The new unit will provide an efficient route by which researchers can access advice, as well as seek confidential consultation on sensitive and emerging issues. Its leadership will operate from Manchester and advisers will be distributed across the UK, available to researchers from across the country. Advisers’ responsibilities will be limited to guidance, and they will not have enforcement responsibilities.  The RCAT will be a BEIS unit, but its advisers will work closely with officials in the Departments for Education, International Trade and Defence, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the National Technical Authorities.   This initiative complements a number of measures already in place to manage risk within international collaboration, including:guidelines published by Universities UK, on behalf of the sector and with government support, to help universities to tackle security risks related to international collaboration;the Trusted Research campaign, run by National Cyber Security Centre and Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure in partnership with BEIS and the Cabinet Office;one of the toughest export controls regimes in the world, including guidance recently published by the Department for International Trade specifically for academics;the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s Academic Technology Approvals Scheme, a pre-visa screening regime expanded to cover a wider set of technologies and all researchers in proliferation sensitive fields;guidance from the Intellectual Property Office on protecting Intellectual Property known as the Lambert Toolkit; andour work with partners and allies, including the G7, to create international frameworks that support open, secure science collaborations.My Department is working hard to promote research collaboration, putting science and technology at the heart of our international partnerships. As a package, these measures are enabling this effort by making sure collaboration is safe, sustainable and secure.

Department of Health and Social Care

Public Consultation on the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018 Statutory Guidance

Ms Nadine Dorries: Today, I am pleased to announce the launch of the Government’s consultation on the statutory guidance for the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018.The Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018, also known as Seni’s Law, was introduced into the House of Commons by the Honourable Member for Croydon North in July 2017 and received Royal Assent in November 2018. The Act is named after Mr Olaseni Lewis, who died as a result of being forcibly restrained whilst he was a voluntary patient in a mental health unit. The purpose of the Act is to clearly set out the measures which are needed to both prevent the use of force and then ensure accountability and transparency about the use of force in mental health units. By promoting good practice, identifying poor practice, and through a greater understanding of where there are problems or issues for specific groups, we can address this nationally as well as locally​. The statutory guidance sets out how we expect mental health units to meet the requirements of the Act. This consultation will seek views on the clarity, content and approach of the proposed guidance. This is vitally important to minimise restrictive interventions in mental health units which affected 12,000 individuals in 2019/20, and disproportionately those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. This is a landmark piece of legislation which enjoys the support of patients, people with lived experience, voluntary and charitable sector organisations and the NHS. Today’s launch represents a significant step forward in our efforts to prevent the use of force in mental health units which would not have been possible without the tireless campaigning of the Honourable Member for Croydon North and the Lewis family.This consultation is part of the Government’s wider reform agenda to improve support for individuals with severe mental illnesses. The Government published its Mental Health Act White Paper on 13 January 2021 which sets out proposals for once in a generation reforms to the Mental Health Act, responding to and building on Sir Simon Wessely’s Review of the Act. We are also working hard to achieve our NHS Long Term plan commitment to give 370,000 adults and older adults with severe mental illnesses greater choice and control over their care and support them to live well in their communities by 2023/24.The consultation will conclude on 17th August 2021. The Government’s intention is to publish the final statutory guidance and begin commencement of the Act in November 2021.

Women and Equalities

Third quarterly report on progress to address COVID-19 health inequalities

Kemi Badenoch: I am publishing today the third of my quarterly reports to the Prime Minister on progress to address COVID-19 health disparities among ethnic minority groups.Vaccination offers the clearest path out of the pandemic and remains the key step in addressing the disparities in risks and outcomes from COVID-19. My report summarises the unprecedented programme of measures taken to tackle misinformation and to increase both vaccine confidence and uptake among ethnic minorities.Over the last quarter the government, together with national and local partners, has responded quickly, effectively and flexibly to drive vaccine uptake. Measures include:A bespoke plan for vaccinations during Ramadan, including the use of ‘twilight jabbing’;Establishing vaccination centres at around 50 different religious venues, with many more acting as pop-up sites, to build trust and confidence within local communities;Piloting family vaccinations with a view to encourage uptake among multi-generational households, where the risk of infection may be higher;Allocating over £7 million of additional NHS funding to local sustainability and transformation partnerships to enable targeted engagement in areas with health inequalities and with communities that are not vaccine confident; andProviding local health leaders with comprehensive data on vaccine uptake among those most at risk from COVID-19, allowing them to take targeted action.My report also sets out progress with the Community Champions scheme, which was launched in January. The 60 local authority areas participating in the government-funded scheme recruited 4,653 individual Community Champions by the end of March, who are now playing a vital role in combatting misinformation and driving vaccine uptake.These combined efforts have led to increases in both positive vaccine sentiment and vaccine uptake across all ethnic groups over the last quarter. Vaccine confidence has increased in three consecutive research periods and the vast majority of people say they have already been vaccinated, or would be likely to accept a vaccine.The government is not complacent. The relatively low uptake rates for some ethnic groups and emerging new variants remain areas of concern. The government will continue to encourage everyone to take the vaccine when offered.My report sets out a number of next steps, including improving our understanding of how the pandemic has impacted frontline healthcare workers, investigating any practical barriers to vaccine uptake by ethnicity, and improving the quality of ethnicity data in health records.My fourth and final report will provide a further update and will include recommendations on how this work to address COVID-19 disparities should be taken forward, as part of our longer-term strategy to tackle health inequalities.